Garage-door opener



April22,193o, RVMO'RS l y 1,755,788

GARAGE DOOR OPENER Filed Sept. 17, 1924 ROBERT v; Mons-E, or- ITHACA,

Patented AprtZZ, 1930 tissage! f UNITED? STATES PATENT' 'GARAGE-noon OPENER Animati@ ned serramenti-15251;. serial raam?.

i This invention relates toA automatic door openers, and has fQr-'itsfobje'ct the provision y of a'y simpleand eli'ecti've mechanism which can close oropen garage jdoors without requiring the driver ofthe automobile to alight from 4his car. @ther objects. of the invention arek to eliminate the` reversing Vor limit switches usually employed7 to reduce the starting load `on thel motor vvhileat the sajne time givinga powerful starting 'force' aty the oor, landfto :provide a :compact and reliable system. w L y t.. .I

'Referringnow to the drawings, Figltis i a planview showing the applicationf'of the Y 2, mountedon the hinges 3 and v3', are arranged to swing outward to open asindicated by the double broken lines. The door-s 2 and 2 are connected to the operating gearing by pivoted links 4 and 4, ywhich are preferably attached near the upper part of the door so as to clear the automobile,.-the operating gearing being normally hung from the ceiling of the garage. The links 4 and 4 are pivotally attached `to the gearsy 5 Vand 5 respectively, at the points `A and B. The linkageand gearing are so proportionedi'that the 1inks'4 and 4 willbe von dead oenterwhen the doors are completelyclosed and also when theyV are completely open.v The gears 5 and 5 rotate in opposite directions7 preferably as indicatedv by the arrows, so that when the f doors are being opened the links 4 and4 will rst swingmore squarely behind the Vdoors to a position of greater mechanical advantage;

'and also, when the doors have been opened and the gearing isv 'operating to close them, g

. the links 4 and 4 will lirst swing to positions more nearly at right angles to the doors, so

advantage.

,as toin that casealso increase the mechanical The gears 5. and 5. are driven bythefelectric motor 6, thru .suitable reductiongearing 7 and Afn'y type of reductiongearing course may be used. The motor 6 1s connect-.f

by opening the switch l0.l Vfhen kthe switch l0.is closed, the .doors may be operated by Y. closing the switch l1 by bandas Whentbe doors ,are first opened before the automobile i'sdriv'en `out of the'garage. Thefdoors may falso be operated by thewheel of theautomo- Yoan, Assistme "ro nii-Aris L. MORSE, or ITHACA,

`Naw von-K Y Y Y ed to the power lines 9, andmay be cut Soif n i bile stopping on the control, plate .12, which acts asfan. operating switch.A This vcontrol -plate l2 is placed on'the ground infront of .the garage in thetraok of the 'wheels,at a

suliicient'distance from the doors so, that Iwhen, a'wheel is'resting on the plate 12. therev willbe plenty .of clearance between the automobile and the doors 2 and 2 as they swing. l One4 form of the control plate 12 is shown 4in greater detail in Fig.` 2, which is avertical `c'rosssection.. A cement base 14 is rshown embedded thelground 15. The sides of the l projecting portion of"tl1is cement basear'e protected :from abrasion by an annular sheet' metal facing'lf.y The @Ontrol plate lZiSDrej erably somewhat dome shaped, and entends Dart way down fthe sides'` olf'th'e beine-nt iP'Q- l jeciii so as not rto he displacedfby lateral impacts, The control plate;1`2 .is supported by a Humber of spring hfinger-sl? which also as switch c'ontaotslwh'enthefplate 121is depressed, connecting the metal ring 1 8 with the.. metal ras@ .These fingers liefe-inse lated fromtheontral :Plate l2 Eheringe 18 and- 19 are .cemented to the', wires S59 and p "lenient-a 2o, so 'that .when they-einmal aannemen; is met across 'than the, dicter '6 may fb@ #up 1 ioned .i

rightly d -1- Y already closed, and then opens the doors by closing the switch 11. This switch l1 is nor-` mally of the push button variety which ylinkage on the dead center position.

the circuit. This will prevent accidental operation by children.

The doors can be opened or closed at any Vtime by means of the switch 11, and various switches corresponding to l1 may be located at covenient positions wherever desired. That is the normal vmodeV of operation Vwhen used in connection with public garages. In the ordinary private garage the normal operation is as follows: The owner comes to the garage and closes the switch l0, if not springs open when the pressure of the llinger is released, thus stopping they motor 6 and leaving theY doors held open. There'is no danger of afwind blowing the doors shut, as the "linkage is substantially on dead center wheni'the doors are fully open, and further-A more a cross wind thattends to blow one door shutV tends to blow the other door open, and these conflicting forces are neutralized within the gearing.

VThe owner then drives'his car out of the garage, and stops the car ,for a moment when vplate '12,v operatingl the motor 6 and causing the doors to swing open. As the doors approach their full open position the owner drives on into the garage. He then closes the doors by touching the switch l1.

VIf an absolutely positive lock is desired, a ratchet 2.3 may be attached to the gearing so that it cannot reverse its direction. Then if the mechanism is stopped on dead center or a little short` of dead center, no amount of pulling on theV door'scan open them.V How'- ever, a-ratchet is not generally required, as

y of the .pivots A 'and'Bwhen'the doors areI open.,l

the friction of the gearing and Vthe dead center position of the links is usually suiiicient. In installing the apparatus' in a garage,

evenwhenrits. location '.,has been' carefully measured, itimay still bedesirable to adjust the length ofthelinks 4 and 4in orderto give thefprecise action desired. Thismay be'done for example by screwing the eyes of Ithe pivotsAand B inthe links' 4 and 4 to the degree desired. In the `drawing the letters A andl B indicateV the approximate position In the -foregeing have de" In the case of a closed car it is not-- scribed my invention in one embodiment by way of illustration. It 'will be understood however thatV the invention is not limited to the particular structure therein shown, but may have various modifications to adapt it to different installations, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. vThe particular arrangement. Vshown is merely one illustration; and the essential features and combinations which constitute the linvention are embodied in the following claims.

I'claim: y

l. Tn a door opener, the combination of a gear, a door, a link directlyconnecting said door and said gear, said link being arranged so as to be on dead center when the door is fully open or fully closed, an electric motor arranged to run in one direction and connected to the gear, the Vdirection of rotation of the gear being such that when the Vdoor is Ibeing opened the'link will first swing so as to be more nearly at right angles to the door, so as to increase themechanical advantage.

Q. ina door opener, the combination of a pair of gears arranged to rotate in opposite Adirections Vfor complete revolutions, a pair of doors, a pair of links extending from the doors to the gears respectively, said links eX- tending obliquely outward from the gears to the doors, an electric motor arranged to run vin one direction, reduction gearing between the electric motor andthe first mentioned gears, and a switch controllingV the electric inotor,.whereby a half revolution of'said first mentioned pair of gears will lopen the doors, and a further half revolution in the same direction of rotation will close the doors.V Y i In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of' September, 1924. V ROBERT V. MORSE. 

